Yesterday we held our first event for 2015. We were in the upstairs room at Armidale Dumaresq Library, which is a great spot to hold workshops and seminars. Despite a couple of slight hitches when the library doors wouldn't let people in, and then having to find more chairs as there were so many people booked in (yay!), Sophie Masson (our chairwoman) and George (Pippa's gorgeous little son) left to play in the park and we got down to business.

Welcome to the new and improved New England Writers' Centre! This WILL eventually become a blog page, but for the moment it will archive all the news of the last few months, to ensure that everyone is up-to-date with the latest happenings. First of all...We have moved! Not very far, we still have the same address, just a new entrance and office. To get to us now, use the Rusden St entrance and we are through the archway right beside the Town Hall - in the same building as the RSL headquarters. Second of all...Our AGM was held on Friday the 27th of February. There was a great turn out and we welcome two new members to our board: Anna Thompson as Newsletter Editor, and Lyn Grace as our Tamworth liason. It's great to have you with us! And last, but not least...Below is a press release from December - letting everyone know that we're gearing up for a great year! I hope to update this regularly - feel free to nudge me if I haven't done it in a while!

From the pen of:

Beattie (Deputy Chair and webmistress)

P.S. I do apologise if I use too many exclamation points on this website. I get very excited! New England Writers’ Centre charts new courseA special board workshop held in Armidale has begun the process of setting new strategic directions for the New England Writers’ Centre. Announcing the results from the workshop, Armidale writer and Centre chair Sophie Masson said that directors had begun by considering a detailed report on Centre operations over the last two years. This included results from a survey of Centre members and customers, as well as an analysis of the Centre’s financial performance.“The report showed”, Ms Masson said, “that the Centre had been damaged by reported uncertainty over its financial position and future directions. This had affected members, clients, funding agencies and volunteers alike.” “There was, in fact, no danger that the Centre would close. The only issue was the scale of activities that could be funded.”“The report also showed”, Ms Masson stated, “that the Centre had a solid base from which to build in experience, the depth of New England’s writers and illustrators and the presence of solid community support.” The workshop approved a draft 2015 program, while also taking a series of decisions to guide Centre directions over the three year period 2015-2017. These included:* Adoption of a longer term planning horizon to allow for long lead time projects such as publishing* Progressive extension of Centre activities in other centres starting with Glen Innes and Tamworth* Progressive extension of the new web site to better support program activities, members, fund raising and the promotion of New England writers and writing* Development of new programs for members and volunteers.“The Centre has made real progress over the last few months”, Ms Masson concluded. “We need to build on that.”